‘That’s what they trained for’: Myrtle Beach crew heads to Texas

Three Myrtle Beach firefighters are in Texas to help with rescue efforts after Hurricane Harvey has devastated the southeast part of the state.

Lt. Bob Horn, Capt. Ed Begovich and Capt. Kenneth Chapman are all members of the South Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team, also known as SC-HART, and will be in Texas for at least a week to assist other rescue crews, according to Lt. Jonathan Evans with Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue.

“Two of them are rescue swimmers, which is Lt. Horn and Capt. Chapman, and Capt. Begovich is a task-force leader, so he’s gonna be in charge of one of the teams or in charge of supervising the operations down there for the South Carolina teams,” Evans said.

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Rescue teams from across South Carolina have been deployed after the state received a request from Texas for emergency assistance, according to a press release from Governor Henry McMaster.

“Each SC-HART crew consists of a UH-60 Black Hawk Army helicopter with four soldiers from the South Carolina National Guard and will be partnered with rescue swimmers from State Fire’s Emergency Response Task Force that consists of firefighters from fire departments throughout the state,” the release states.

Horn, Begovich and Chapman were the only firefighters from Myrtle Beach sent to Texas.

“They have a specific skill that they thought would benefit the community down there,” Evans said. “That’s what they trained for, this is the kind of thing they want to help with and can use their skills for.

“They usually jump at chances to do things like this cause they don’t happen all that often,” he added. “They’re happy to help any way that they can.”

SC-HART is a collaborative effort between State Fire’s Emergency Response Task Force, a division of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Emergency Management Division and South Carolina Army National Guard Aviation Units, according to the release.

"The magnitude of flooding and damage that Hurricane Harvey has brought to Texas is truly heartbreaking, but the heroic action and sacrifice by thousands of volunteers and first responders give inspiration to the nation," Gov. Henry McMaster said in the release. "South Carolina stands ready to fulfill any further requests from Governor Abbott and his team."